The following was originally published July 10, 2006 at http://kmslivinghistory.blogspot.com/2006/07/school-project-goals.html
What a productive summer vacation I'm having. During the past week + I have been reading blogs from the DEN workshop in Chicago, becoming more familiar with some of the leading ideas in integrating technology, listening to some excellent podcasts, and making plans for the coming school year. With the new school year approaching I have made some goals for implementing what I have been learning. School Project Goals Podcasting
Podcast - I very much want to see students creating podcasts as an audio assessment option when we have our research/presentation assignments. I would like to create some kits that would help group resources so the students can focus on content and creativity with the kit materials to deliver their new knowledge
StudyCast - Eric Langhorst, 8th grade American History teacher at South Valley JHS in Liberty Missouri, has created StudyCasts as review tools his students can use in preparation for Unit tests. This idea appeals very much to me and I will be trying to incorporate the same idea in my classes.
8th Grade Podcast - I would like to see the elements of our 8th grade newspaper project created into a podcast that would be available for the community. The goal would be to take the elements of the monthly student created paper and publish them as a podcast as well as a newspaper. The podcast should be easy since the content has already been generated.
Multimedia
PhotoStory 3 - I am planning on using the software to create presentations for my class using still pictures. It would also be great to see the student use this as another option in the creation/sharing of their research projects.
MovieMaker - I am planning on using a combination of PhotoStory 3 movies, video downloaded from United Streaming, still pictures, audio and whatever else presents itself to create presentations for my students. I still want to have reading assignments, but covering the material in several ways will assist my students in their unique learning styles.
PowerPoint - again, creation/sharing with emphasis on embedding media in the projects
Excel - as I have been learning this summer I have begun to understand that if I want my students to have a better grasp of data and analysis, I must teach them how to manipulate the data presented to have it gain relevant meaning. To do this I will be implementing some projects that will require the students to use data in these ways.
Wiki for 8th Grade American History - I think it will be worthwhile to have the students create a wiki that they will be responsible for filling with the information that they have gained during the course of the units. It would be very beneficial to have students publish the knowledge they sought out and share with their classmates. I hope that the greater relevance of their individual work for the good of the class will help motivate all the students to do their best.
Blog - I am planning on using this free blog as a way to communicate with the students at home and hopefully at school. (will need to check with IT guys about school filter of this blog) I have used schoolnotes in the past but already see advantages to the blog through examples like Speaking of History that uses the blog for show notes for podcasts. I think that using the blog as a record of class assignments will be valuable because they will be archived each month. This will make them available for my use and also student use in determining when an assignment was started and when was it due.
I know this is a very full list to work on and don't have any expectation that they will all be ready to go when school starts. It will be a working set of goals.
The following was originally published July 10, 2006 at http://kmslivinghistory.blogspot.com/2006/07/school-project-goals.html
What a productive summer vacation I'm having. During the past week + I have been reading blogs from the DEN workshop in Chicago, becoming more familiar with some of the leading ideas in integrating technology, listening to some excellent podcasts, and making plans for the coming school year. With the new school year approaching I have made some goals for implementing what I have been learning. School Project Goals Podcasting
- Podcast - I very much want to see students creating podcasts as an audio assessment option when we have our research/presentation assignments. I would like to create some kits that would help group resources so the students can focus on content and creativity with the kit materials to deliver their new knowledge
- StudyCast - Eric Langhorst, 8th grade American History teacher at South Valley JHS in Liberty Missouri, has created StudyCasts as review tools his students can use in preparation for Unit tests. This idea appeals very much to me and I will be trying to incorporate the same idea in my classes.
- 8th Grade Podcast - I would like to see the elements of our 8th grade newspaper project created into a podcast that would be available for the community. The goal would be to take the elements of the monthly student created paper and publish them as a podcast as well as a newspaper. The podcast should be easy since the content has already been generated.
Multimedia- PhotoStory 3 - I am planning on using the software to create presentations for my class using still pictures. It would also be great to see the student use this as another option in the creation/sharing of their research projects.
- MovieMaker - I am planning on using a combination of PhotoStory 3 movies, video downloaded from United Streaming, still pictures, audio and whatever else presents itself to create presentations for my students. I still want to have reading assignments, but covering the material in several ways will assist my students in their unique learning styles.
- PowerPoint - again, creation/sharing with emphasis on embedding media in the projects
- Excel - as I have been learning this summer I have begun to understand that if I want my students to have a better grasp of data and analysis, I must teach them how to manipulate the data presented to have it gain relevant meaning. To do this I will be implementing some projects that will require the students to use data in these ways.
Wikis- Wiki for 8th Grade American History - I think it will be worthwhile to have the students create a wiki that they will be responsible for filling with the information that they have gained during the course of the units. It would be very beneficial to have students publish the knowledge they sought out and share with their classmates. I hope that the greater relevance of their individual work for the good of the class will help motivate all the students to do their best.
Blogging- Blog - I am planning on using this free blog as a way to communicate with the students at home and hopefully at school. (will need to check with IT guys about school filter of this blog) I have used schoolnotes in the past but already see advantages to the blog through examples like Speaking of History that uses the blog for show notes for podcasts. I think that using the blog as a record of class assignments will be valuable because they will be archived each month. This will make them available for my use and also student use in determining when an assignment was started and when was it due.
I know this is a very full list to work on and don't have any expectation that they will all be ready to go when school starts. It will be a working set of goals.